According to Dan Cagen of the Metro West Daily News, before the 5:00 p.m. deadline for issuing qualifying sheets, general manager Peter Chiarelli and the B's finally submitted their offer to Caron, making the 23-year-old Quebec native a restricted free agent. If Caron accepts the offer sheet, he will earn a base salary of $740,000 for the upcoming season, a 10% increase of his $640,000 salary from last year. If he rejects the offer, he will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent tomorrow.

CSSNE's Joe Haggerty reported that the Bruins were actively shopping Caron's negotiating rights the past few days, leading to the delay in offering him a qualifying sheet until an hour or so before the deadline.

A first-round pick in 2009, Caron has underperformed in his time in Boston, as he has failed to latch on and become a reliable option for the B's at any position they put him in. Totaling just 12 goals, 16 assists for 28 points in 123 NHL games with Boston, many thought Caron's time with the Bruins was finally up after putting forth another forgettable campaign in 2013-14. For the second-straight season, Caron scored just one goal and recorded two assists.

He came on late in the playoffs for a bit, scoring one goal in seven games and filled in nicely along the bottom pairings as the Bruins dealt with injuries to Danny Paille and Chris Kelly, but holding true to his career arch in Black and Gold, it was just another flash in the pan here and there.

With the likes of Justin Florek, Matt Fraser, Craig Cunningham and Alexander Khokhlachev all pushing to make the jump to the NHL, it's a curious decision as to why the Bruins would aim to retain Caron and commit a chunk of money towards the cause.

It'll be a battle won in training camp, so come September, we'll see if Caron can stick around and earn his spot back on the roster.